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What a weekend! My kids seriously had the most action packed weekend they have had in quite a while.

While I was at a photo shoot Saturday morning Josh took the kids to the High Noon Saloon for a concert. They saw Gustafer Yellowgold and Nora both climbed up on a bar stool (where daddy emailed me a picture of our party girl) and all the kids (they were with the Butler-Broads) ran to sit in the front row. After a quick lunch and an even quicker nap it was off to miss Raya's birthday tea party birthday party at Bean Sprouts.

Blowing candle on her chocolate monster cake.

After the tea part was over Raya opened presents and the kids pulled one out to play. Many of the adults remembered playing Perfection - either fondly or by being scared by it. These kids seemed to enjoy it.

Sunday began with tasty Apple and Leek Quiche (which neither of the kids were into eating, oh well , more for the grown ups) and then we grabbed Colleen and Raya and went to Schuster's Playtime Farm. Every year since we started going when Ben was super small, there is something new. This year - pig races!. Those little piggies are pretty cute (I didn't get any pics though as I was holding ben up to see) we played picked pumpkins, manhandled little kittens, ate popcorn and turned our daughter into a little shivering popsicle.

We only had a moment to try to get this picture because we needed to get on the ride to the pumpkin patch. I though we would have a chance on the way out, but by then everyone was cold and hungry. Oh well. will have the get an updated pic of the three of hem another time.

This was nora before she got cold.

getting colder

really cold!

After a yummy Mexican food lunch and a quick nap (for Nora and Dad - ben played the new wii fit and I started to put away the garden after a hard frost last night), we went to the Barrymore Theater for the They Might Be Giants show. Ben has been waiting and listening to their new CD since it came out just a week or so ago. The highly anticipated show didn't disappoint. Ben intensely listened to the songs. He waited patiently through the songs that were not from the new CD and seemed entranced by those that were. Nora totally rocked both the bucket of popcorn that she begrudgingly shared with the rest fo the family and the dance moves that can only come from a two year olds body. She fully embraced the concert vibe between the last song and the encore by screaming her little head off jumping and clapping for more. She is a rocker at heart. I see a lot of concert going in her future. The show was great for everyone and I am so glad that we got our act together to get our tickets in advance (the show was sold out) and that jrh got the new CD right away. Ben sang himself to sleep tonight by belting out "I am a paleontologist" and "Meet the Elements" at the top of his lungs.... Nora was already fast asleep. Like I said, what a weekend!

And because it was yummy and i could not find an easy way to just link to the recipe. Here is the recipe for the quiche from Harmony Valley Farm

Apple and Leek Quiche Serves 4 as an entrée Crust for 1 pie ½ a large leek, trimmed, washed and cut in narrow strips 2 Tbsp butter 3-4 large leaves of kale 1 tart apple, cored and sliced thinly 2 ounces of earthy, ﬂavorful hard cheese, shredded (try Gruyere or Pastureland’s Thoten, Sogn, or Berne.) 3-4 eggs ½ cup sour cream Teeny pinch of freshly grated nutmeg Pinch of black pepper Salt to taste (depending on type of cheese used) 1.Bake pie dough into a 10-inch shell according to recipe directions. While pie shell is baking, prep your veggies. Reduce oven temperature to 350º once the crust is baked. 2.Sauté leeks in butter over very low heat until softened but not brown, about 10 minutes. 3.Strip the stems from the kale leaves and boil in 1 cup of water about 5 min- utes. Remove with a slotted spoon, drain and cool. Chop into very ﬁ ne pieces and squeeze dry. 4.Whisk together eggs, sour cream, and spices. Stir in the chopped kale. 5.Spread apple slices in an even layer in the bottom of the pie crust. Add a lay- er of shredded cheese. Next, evenly spread the sautéed leeks. Carefully pour in the egg mixture, tapping or shaking to allow it to evenly distribute. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. 6.Bake quiche 1 to 1 ½ hours, or until center of ﬁlling is puffed and set (center will be slightly wobbly but not liquid). Cool on a rack at least 20 to 30 minutes before serving (ﬁlling will continue to set as it cools). Serve warm or at room temperature.

Everything this weekend worked out differently than we planned. Seriously, at every turn plans were altered or canceled. The kids were under the weather spending their nights coughing and days oscillating between seeming fine and exhausted and cranky. Sunday we were going to go to an orchard to grab some apples. I decided to make the family stop for a photo shoot (occupational hazard for my family) and then we didn't make it to the orchard. It was cold and windy. We decided to go to the Northside farmers market for apples (no apples) and canceled our plan of tostadas at home in favor of Chinese buffet. The whole weekend was fine. Much lower key than our original plans which we probably all needed. it is just funny how sometimes nothing turns out like you plan.

Not even these pictures - of course i had an idea of what i wanted but what I get is always so much better than what I cook up in my head. I want to get a few of these printed really big for my office. I am thinking like 20x30 or 30x40. Gotta get through this week first....

Today was the first dayboth kids were in school - the first day for returning kids was yesterday. Nora was very excited and Ben seemed thrilled to be taking his sister into his class.

Here are some pictures from this morning

Nora requested pigtails this morning (they were not in at hte end of the day!)

No big girl gets on the school bus pics for my kids so we have gets in the dad bus - a big wave goodbye and theywere off to school for the day.

Nora had a great day. She is learning how to receive lessons and was very excited about everything. I am so glad that her brother and our best friends child are in the classrooms with her - I am sure that makes the transition easier for her. But honestly she seems really ready and I am so happy for her. She played with her lunch box for two hours after school - setting up and pretending to eat lunch the way they did in class. She told me today that she was a "super big girl" Yes Nora you are!

There are lots of people that do these kid surveys every year - if I were a more organized mom, I would do that. Instead, I happened to come across one on a blog today and decided that it would be a good quiet-time activity. I copied it, took out the other kids answers, and proceeded to try to ask Ben the questions. He was not at all interested until I told him he could type out the answers himself, then it got interesting for him (typing on mom's laptop is a special treat). And so, I present you with Ben's answers to the following prompts:

Ben Jester – 5.5 years oldAugust 24, 2009 at 15:31 ("do it in military time mom")

I feel happy when ... I play on my computer

I feel sad when ... I need too take a timeout

I like to .... go to keva

My daddy is ... named josh

My mama is ... named amy

I love to play ...on my computer

My favorite color is ... red

I like to eat .... waffles

My favorite toy is ....giraffe

I'm excited about .... going to birthday parties

What's your favorite song? Old brass wagon

What's your favorite school activity? Math division board

What's your favorite art activity? painting

What's the best part about being 5 years old? don’t need to nap

I wish I could ... fly into space

The best part of having a sister is .... we pretend to play space shuttle together

Today was Ben's last day of school He was very excited about it, which surprised us when he expressed it because he really loves school. However, he said that he was excited for this year to be over because then the next time he goes to school Nora will be going with him.... very sweet.

In addition to the fact that the end of the school year meaning that the next school year is that much closer, for Ben's class it meant a program presented to the parents. I took video beause jrh was in chicago but have not done anything with it yet (and honestly I had a pretty bad postition so we will have to see how it works out) but I did manage a few pictures os the "extended day extravanganza"

There was singing, dramatic reading with sound effects, numerous kinds of dancing, and a very short play. Ben had been talking about this for a while but i really had no clue what to expect. It was very sweet to see all of the kids working together and very obviously so proud of all that they acomplished. Most of the students in the extended day class are moving on to other classes next year (either other schools like the public school or up to the first elementary class in our school, so it was a bit sad too as it was the last time that some of these kids will be together like this.

They sang all sorts of songs - including leading the audeince in accompanying Louis Armstrong's What a wonderful world - seriously I think at least half of hte audience was tearing up... not so nice to the parents Anna :)

They did partner dances from around the world. Here Ben is dancing with Ellery (who is the other person who will be staying in the class to lead the extended day next year)

The kids insisted that the bunny hop get added to the program - and so it was

I didnt' get many great pictures during the play - basically it involved the two oldest kids play set up the situation and then the rest of the class being jumping beans - they took their role very seriously and they had lots of paying attention to do - but the crowd of beans didn't lens itself to great pictures! It was great to see it though as Ben has had nora and I act out the play mulitple times at home where he plays the lead - and I neer knew if we were doing it right - it was good to know we were on track!

Afterward there was a short graduation presentaiton for those "moving up" and all the kids got a personalized (down to the color) I t-shirt with their classes artwork. Thank you anna. He is upstairs sleeping in it tonight - even after bath he just wanted to put it back on - very cool gift.

oh and there was an ice cream social....a lovely day outside and ice cream with all sort of yummy toppings hit the spot.

Ben humored me and allowed me to get a few pics with his teachers (which he would not do last year - he would not even say goodbye last year)x

This is Mary - she is Anna's assistent and as far as ben is concerned she is the funniest person on the planet. Really she cracks him up. She is the biggest fan of all of the kids in that room and we are so lucky to have her.

And Anna - who is single handedly responsible for our wonderful first impression of the school (since then we have learned all of the other wonderful and amazing things about it, but Anna really did a great job listening and anwering questions trying to help up find the right educational environment for our kid. As a result of getting to spend muiltple years with students (for some 4!) she really gets to know the kids in a way that I think most teachers are not able...I can't wait for Nora to start with Anna next year. Anna has been a great teacher for Ben and though ben and nora are very different the ways that she is awesome mean that she will be a great teacher for nora too.

We have been doing tons of stuff lately. This past weekend we started a garden (from scratch - I mean we dug up the sod and everything!), went to a birthday party, a BBQ, had friends over for dinner, and went to the Kite festival at the lakefront in Milwaukee. It was windy (which was good for kite flying) and a little chilly (thanks mom for having coats for the kids!), but the kids got to see all sorts of kites and Ben got to fly our new frog kite. There were tons of dandelions to blow. We had a lovely picnic and hung out with grandparents. Here are a few shots.

I swore that i would never have one of "those things" in my yard. We live walking distance from many parks. There was just no need. Then we moved and though our new neighborhood is superior in almost every child friendly way, we are not really easy walking distance from a park that is available to play in for most of the day (several school playgrounds are close but not available during the day)... and our kids are not old enough to go to the park by themselves anyway.....

So then I got this bee in my bonnet. It started in September and I started stalking craigslist for used swing sets. I knew what I wanted, I knew about how much I wanted to pay...but these things come and go quite quickly....it got cold, I let it go.....until march...the sun came out a bit more...I thought of all the work we wanted to do in the yard...ll of the BBQs with children yearning for something fun to do. I started the search. I found it. It was in the Northern Milwaukee burbs. It was old, it needed some TLC. But it was solid and the price was right.

I convinced jrh and my dad to go with me to get it. It ended up taking two trips (one with a rented truck and after waiting a week for the frost to release the fort boards from the ground) my uncle came for support on the second trip. We filled our garage with the pieces. We borrowed a power washer, begged babysitting from grandparents so we could wash and stain (even cooped up in the garage in the rain) Recycling is hard work.. all of this was done in the hopes of being able to relax a bit in our yard while the kids play!

Though we had carefully labeled and photographically documented the parts and assembly with the intent of installing it ourselves, we decided that it would be in the interest of the rest of our summer to have Rainbow reinstall the set. Wow were we right - six weeks after we took it from milwaukee and rehabbed it, a pair of guys came and set the thing up in 2 hours! The kids watched our the window almost the entire time.

We learned that Nora knew the words "play structure" when she asked to go outside to play on it when jrh got home from work.... their bodies twitched yearning to get outside in the yard.

It was a lot of work. But it looks as good as a large playset taking up most of your yard can look and more importantly the kids love it and we have gotten some BBQing and tons of yard work done while the kids played til their little dirty feet were content. I am a convert. Thanks to everyone who contributed to our play structure raising. Mission accomplished.

We colored eggs on Saturday morning - it was clear that Nora was paying close attention last year because she got to the table and started dunking eggs in the dye before anyone even told her what to do. She also intently colored the eggs and generally seemed to really enjoy the process.

jrh created the Easter egg he painstakingly does every year - seriously i think that I am going to have many pictures of this egg over the years - check back in a couple of years and I will dig them all up and we can watch jrh go gray while he does the same egg every year (love ya honey)!

however this was a new innovation for this year photo series

Those little wire dippers are for suckers - show me your hands Nora!

I only did one egg because I was taking pictures and I attempted to try my new Photography logo on an egg - I am a photographer not an artist.

Ben wanted to make sure that he looked like either a smurf or the hulk for the rest of the day (he still doesn't know either character - sorry G we'll get him on the hulk soon enough) and most of it came out in a good before bath soaking - but for a while there we were not so sure.

The next morning we did our third annual Easter egg scavenger hunt - jrh write the clues and Ben hunts. This year Nora chased after Ben and enjoyed the fruits of the found eggs. Sometimes silliness ensued.

This year the hunt made it outside - some of the eggs had gummy worms in them (partially because I didn't go to buy Easter candy until Saturday night and well the store was out - so I made due - side bonus I love gummy worms)

Last year we hosted a big sit down brunch for my entire extended family. It was great. it was the first time that many of them were at our house in Madison. We were able to make a big square table that seated everyone and we cooked a ton of yummy food. This year we thought about doing it again but we don't live in that house anymore and our new house is not so well suited for a large group of people. My mom stepped in and we had a low key Easter potluck in mIlwaukee. We put the sugar laden children in the car and stopped by the coop on the way to get the stuff for our contribution to the potluck - jrh ran in and I took pictures to pass the time.

and then we got to grandma and grandpa's house and the kids got to play with stickers on windows, eat more candy and cake, played with lots of adults and crashed on the way home.

And I didn't have to clean my house.... awesome. Thanks mom. I love hosting a good party, but I appreciate you hosting easter more than you know.

I have two main cameras. Jrh has dubbed them "Big Black and Lil' Silver". Lil' Silver sits with the TV remotes on top of the piano and is available to take pictures on the spur of the moment or to be thrown in the diaper bag when I don't feel like drawing attention to the fact that I am a photographer, but I feel like having something with me.

I don't download the pictures from Lil' Silver often. When I do it cracks me up because I get to see what life in my house is really like...

Jrh and Ben on a Sunday morning playing Mario kart.

Nora stuck in the drawer under the train table - she gets herself stuck many times a day.

Nora likes to get her arms out of her clothes. I often find her like this....

She also insists on pouring her milk into her bowl (the bowl doesn't have to contain cereal for this to occur) and then drinking it.

Lots of the cute Nora stuff happens when Ben is at school. So to be fair I thought i would include a few snapshots of Ben in his school environment,

Here he is with his teacher Anna.

And here are Ben and jrh at school during a recent go-to-school night.

It wasn't a big spring vacation to florida or mexico....it was just a really nice late winter day in wisconsin. Nora and I took a lovely walk aroung the neighborhood in the morning and after we picked Ben up from school we went to the zoo with Colleen and Raya. The air smelled like dirt and it was fun to run around without our coats. And when we got home we played outisde with sidewalk chalk. The next time it snows (likely tomorrow) I will have to hold on to the feeling of sun on my face and remember it until spring really arrives (at the end of May).